Cab Driver Tapes Paris Hilton Saying Gay Men Are “Disgusting,” “Most Of Them Probably Have AIDS”

Paris Hilton is in trouble for comments she allegedly made about gay men during a cab ride in New York City earlier this month. Hilton was surreptitiously recorded by the driver while having a conversation with “a gay friend” (per TMZ) in which said gay friend brings up Grindr, the “geosocial networking site” aimed at gay and bisexual men. This prompted Paris to exclaim:

“Gay guys are the horniest people in the world … they’re disgusting. Dude, most of them probably have AIDS. […] I would be so scared if I was a gay guy … you’ll like die of AIDS.”

This is the sort of toxic publicity that most reps would just deny straight up and down but, astonishingly… no. Hilton’s rep actually tried to justify her statements:

“Paris Hilton’s comments were to express that it is dangerous for anyone to have unprotected sex that could lead to a life threatening disease. The conversation became heated, after a close gay friend told her in a cab ride, a story about a gay man who has AIDS and is knowingly having unprotected sex. He also discussed a website that encourages random sex by gay men with strangers. As she was being shown the website her comments were in reference to those people promoting themselves on the site. The cab driver who recorded this, only provided a portion of the conversation. It was not her intent to make any derogatory comments about all gays. Paris Hilton is a huge supporter of the gay community and would never purposefully make any negative statements about anyone’s sexual orientation.”

While it’s surprising that Hilton’s rep didn’t try to pretend this was all a huge conspiracy, what’s not really surprising is the sentiment: this is coming from a person who “can’t stand black guys” and throws around “nigger” like it’s a hilarious catchphrase. Moreover, when will the day come when a publicist can just say, “Paris made some regrettably bigoted remarks and, upon no small personal reflection, has realized that these beliefs are barbaric and ignorant. She would like to recognize her feebleness and apologize.”